“If you have a system – like FRIC – that can use the increased load on the front suspension under braking to lower the rear ride height then it is possible to have a much more aggressive underbody and front wing aero-map, which in turn increases the car’s overall downforce and therefore grip.”

Caterham for the past couple seasons were HRT, in the sense they have been stuck and under-performing. I think rebuilding the base of the team was the only solution to the problem as the money was not an issue and probably a great part of it was spent on the people that worked in F1 just so they could add such to their CV. I read the Burti story 3 or 4 months ago on F1 I believe it somewhere there in english.
Surely that’s not an actual contract Rosberg so why pretend? use an emote.

So Airbus have jumped the caterham sinking ship too? It even struck me during the last race that they shouldn’t even be referred to as Caterham anymore – doesn’t fernandes keep that name? Makes me wonder if they’ll see out the season.

@bazza-spock Airbus where only sponsors of Caterham because Air Asia, Fernandes’ airline, uses an all Airbus fleet. I’m not sure what engines they use, but I’m guessing they are either all or the vast majority of them are GE, because their logos are off the cars now too. Low cost airlines often run a single aircraft type of aircraft from a single manufacturer to keep costs down.

I still remember everyone gasping & a very sombre mood coming over the TV compound in the aftermath of Burti’s Spa 2001 crash & there were many who initially thought it was going to be fatal. It still amazes me that he got away with it as relatively lightly as he did.

That crash is also a good example of why tarmac runoff is safer than grass/gravel in some cases. Had that been tarmac runoff (As it was at the 2nd part of Blanchimont that year) that crash would have been far less severe. In part because when the car bounced over the grass/gravel it broke the front suspension whihc not only took away the steering but also the brakes so the angle of impact was very severe & there wasn’t much speed loss.
Had that been gravel he’d have kept his steering & braking so would have lost much more speed & if he was still going into the wall maybe it would have been a better angle if he’d kept the steering.

That crash is one of the few moments I’ve ever heard Dutch commentator Olav Mol in a very sombre mood during a race. As you say, he and many others initially thought that was it, at the very least he would be severely injured. Myself included..

A great testament to how severe the crash was is how the tyres are just completely burying the Prost.. The endless tarmac runoffs at modern tracks might be boring, but at least they don’t allow for things like these to happen.

The Burti crash happened right in front of me and we could all hear Irvine shouting at the marshals to do something as they were pretty slow to start work. Seeing one of the medical crew patting Irvine on the shoulder and making a “touch and go” type motion with his hand before they took Burti to safety was not pleasant to see!

Ok then, I’m calling it now. Pedro Piquet, he is completely dominating F3 in his first year; I managed to watch his first race, he came charging from the middle of the pack, passed every driver effortlessly, took the lead and built a huge gap.

Gotta say, Vettel really is surprising me. A lot of things he’s said and done this year are a far cry from hailing back to the petulance of his early Red Bull days. Now whether that’s because he’s just had his fill of WDC’s for the moment, or a true change of character. Time will tell.

He’ll be an interesting character to watch for a good time to come, assuming Formula 1 doesn’t implode first.

Well I think a couple of things:
1. because of spotlight on him a lot of things were blown out of proportion by media
2. age often (but not always as shown by some other drivers) is correlated with mental maturity and being able to see things in perspective.
3. the 4-5 successful yeas has reduced the urgency and impatience that young hungry driver has

Recalling one post race radio messages from one of his last wins last year is probably best reflect the above: “remember (or enjoy?) these days boys; there is no guarantee they would last forever”.

I’ve never been a Vettel fan myself, but that doesn’t mean I have any big issues with him either. Just not my cup of tea. I think he started this season just as petulant as before with his harsh commentary on the new F1. I think his tone now is one of a bloke who hasn’t much else he can say while he is being bested by his teammate. I also think it is not entirely surprising that DR is doing as he is vs SV in that SV has expressed his dislike of this new formula, staying on top is the hardest thing to do and the car is no longer the best, which is the main ingredient to winning a WDC, and DR started this season feeling just lucky to be at RBR. DR has been in the far lesser pressure situation as if he was bested by SV, no surprise, he’s the newby on the team, do better and it’s gravy. SV has been humbled by his car and the new format, and I suspect if he was still dominating his teammate and F1 we would be hearing the same stuff from him as in the past.

“Neither 2010 or 2012 were phenominal seasons for Vettel and in both of them he spent a lot of time behind his team mate, someone who people don’t rate that highly.

2011 and 2013 were quite excellent from Vettel, but he had a car capable of beating it. Most weekends if Vettel performed at 95% and Fernando performed at 100% Vettel would still win.

I think a big part of 2014 for Seb is not being used to pushing to the limit. He is so used to just cruising to victories its a real shock when he has to turn up and perform to the absolute maximum. We saw it happen at both Canada and Britain, Vettel’s tardy out lap on fresh tyres when he wasn’t comfortable lost him position in both races which severely impacted his races. Daniel is a driver who is used to scrapping for position every lap of every race, he knows a slow outlap or inlap can be the difference between 8th and 12th and makes sure he makes them count.”

But Vettel will get used to this and adapt . In fact, he has had a lot of retirements and bad luck to contend with .Besides , he was exactly in the same spot in early 2012 when he brought the car home in 4th and 5th a few times which gave him some crucial points till RBR adapted. So, It’s a question of both Red Bull bringing some updates to suit his driving style and also for him to adapt to the demands . As we speak , he is probably giving his 100.1 % in the simulator .

ive never really liked Vettel, some of his cry baby antics hugs and carry on really put me off the guy,
but as the season have progressed he has shown some brilliance, more so his fight with Alonso,
you come to realize yes, he had a car that was great at the time of his World championship wins and it suited his style of driving,
now he has to adapt to a new driving skill which makes you wounder how good he really was in the first place.
but just lately with different causes beyond his control he has moved forward, made adjustments to his style and started to push,
bit like being reborn and relearning all over again,
ive come to like him a little, maybe its because he now is the underdog not the pace setter and smart ass he was before, this could be he’s a lot wiser and slightly older,
keep it up Vettel i might have more sympathy by the end of the season.

I disagree.
Didn’t like Vettel much, ever, after 2010, but I don’t see his scrappy out laps as an example of him cruising to victories. Every race he has led into the first corner in 2013, he’s been building a short lead quickly, and starting to protect car/tyres when the team told him to. He’s had the strongest car, better than Mark in some races, better strategy than Mark sometimes, but he has also had the skill to push the car to the limit.
He hasn’t needed to adapt to less downforce as much as adapting to BBW or the Torque. Give the drivers some time. Kimi may become stronger once his learning curve actually curves. SV might start whipping Ricciardo, though I doubt so. Daniel was exceptionally fast in his Toro Rosso. He’s still fast.

Neither 2010 or 2012 were phenominal seasons for Vettel and in both of them he spent a lot of time behind his team mate

Really? In 2010, he was bested by his teammate in only 6/19 races (Spain, Monaco, Turkey, Britain, Hungary, Belgium), and in 2012 only in 5/20 (Malaysia, China, Monaco, Britain, Brazil). And even 2 of those in 2012 were due to someone hitting the rear of Vettel’s car. Not much for “a lot of time”.

@david-a
I think what the person who made that comment meant is that Vettel spent a lot of time behind his teammate in the championship. Then again, the comment above isn’t even mine, so I can’t say for sure.

I think what the person who made that comment meant is that Vettel spent a lot of time behind his teammate in the championship.

Then that person doesn’t know that Vettel trailed his teammate after only 6/20 races in 2012 (MAL/CHI, initially down to the points Vet lost due to Narain, and the run of races from EUR-HUN, initially caused by that alternator), and that they should know about what kept happening to one RB6 in 2010.

We saw it happen at both Canada and Britain, Vettel’s tardy out lap on fresh tyres when he wasn’t comfortable lost him position in both races which severely impacted his races.

What tardy outlap? In Canada he came out right behind a slower car. Vettel’s stop allowed Ricciardo to do a fast in lap and jump Vettel. Vettel never even had the chance to do a ‘tardy’ outlap or inlap in that race.
As for Silverstone. Alonso was right on his tail. Just 3 tenths seperating them as Vettel went into the stop and go corners that preceded the first DRS straight. How Vettel managed to stay ahead with such a power deficit there is anything but tardy.
But I suppose it was only because Alonso saved his energy whereas Vettel used almost all of it. Superb setup by Alonso who knew Vettel would struggle to go through the corners on cold tyres. Alonso then had a better run up to copse using his energy and was already in front of Vettel going into copse.
As soon as I saw Vettel come out just ahead of Alonso I knew he would be in trouble. Not because it was Alonso behind him but because a 3 tenths advantage in a DRS zone is nothing with a Renault engine in the back. Again, Red Bull misjudged Vettel’s time compared to other cars on track, just as they did in Canada.

I have a huge respect for his talent. And I am not sure without that, only because of a car, no one can win four champion ships. I think this hate talks are definite example that how people afraid him, or is it because that his continuous championship victory?

Its true that he is not up to his potential this season. And I believe that, it has partially due to his car’s technical issues. Apart from that we had very few fights between the two teammates. And I hear lot’s of criticism about him while he is doing fairly good performance in a not so reliable red bull, while hardly I found another world champion Kimi Raikkonen struggling more in the Ferrari with a better reliability.

Having said all these I respect Ricciardo’s talent, and I think he came from a midfield struggling car into way better one. Of course his life is easy here, rather than in Toro Rosso. So he never need to put an extra effort here to struggle with the car. Apart from that he is a great human being with a good heart and racing hands. Definitely he did better than expected. Hope that he will continue to do so.

@WilliamB, I said the same thing to myself. But then when thinking about it.. Alonso was kind of beaten in 2007, should have won the WDC in 2010, and also lost 2012 when he was leading at some point. Last year he had some sloppy races, for exempel at Monaco. No one is perfect all the time. I do agree however Alonso is one of the most consistent drivers.

Portuguese is my mother tongue and on the back of the world cup seems to me that our language in “en vogue”. Many non-speakers posting messages in Portuguese on different social networks (like British chef Jamie Oliver) really makes me feel like “Portuguese Is The New Spanish” :).

All this to say (even though, it’s not the first time) I like to see a link in Portuguese @keithcollantine

The only races where Ricciardo beat Vettel on track are Bahrein and China.
In Spain, Canada and Silverstone Vettel was faster but ended up behind Ricciardo through no fault of his own.
Ricciardo is doing a great job. But he’s in no way consistently beating Vettel.